I will be with my family for one week in FNQ in early July 05. After I reserve a hotel, do I need to book diving (scuba day trips), Skyrail, Daintree, Cape Trib, all in advance, or when I get there?

Also, is Dunk Island worth a few days?

Should we skip Cairns and stay in Port Douglas?

Fly from Sydney to Townsville, then drive the Great Green Way to Dunk, then on the Cairns?

Thanks,

jmbay

You can book your tours once you get there. I can't comment on Dunk Is. or flying SYD to Townsville.

Cairns is a good home base, but you might like Port Douglas better. It isn't as big. It seems "preppy" in my opinion, but I've not stayed there. I've stayed in Cairns on each of my four Reef trips and found it full of activity. Palm Cove is another option for hotels if you don't want to stay in Cairns. Smaller than Pt Douglas.

I will be diving with my family. I have planned to go with smaller boats and day trips. Do I reserve these in advance also? Tusa dive out of Cairns. Poseidon dive out of Port Douglas, and the Rum Runner out of Cape Tribulation. Have you or anyone any experience with these outfits?

I was thinking about staying in Cairns, Port Douglas, and Cape Trib. Or, should I just stay in the middle, ie. Port Douglas and not move so much?

Do you know of the Villa Paradiso in PD?

Final question, do the rental car agencies require a 4WD vehicle to drive to Cape Tribulation?

Thanks,

jmbay

jmbay - July is peak season in FNQ so you may not be able to book scuba day trips for exactly when you want them on arrival. Tusa takes only 28 per boat, quite often its not available when booking the day before. Before any snorkelling or scuba trip its a good idea to visit Reef Teach session in Cairns, 6pm every evening except Sunday.

Palm Cove is the beach in the middle, (its a suburb of Cairns) and closer to Cairns than Port Douglas. Tours (including Tusa) which leave from Cairns pick up at all northern beaches, including Palm Cove.

Villa Paradiso is in PC, not PD, excellent position on Esplanade across narrow road from beach.

Rental car companies now allow normal vehicles to Cape Tribulation, beyond that, on the Bloomfield Track, you do need 4WD.

If your family includes young children (under 10 or so), Cairns has a great playground (Muddy's) right on the Esplanade. It also has a large selection of restaurants and shopping. We chose to stay there. BUT the two tours we did (Low Isles snorkeling and Cape Trib) left from Port Douglas. We were picked up first, drove an hour (with a few stops) to PD; reversed on the way home. While the scenery is stunning, it is a lot of time in a vehicle, especially if you're going to Cape Trib, which necessarily includes a lot of driving. Skyrail, Kuranda and Tjakupai are much closer to Cairns, but doable in one day if you plan well (probably in advance). We were happy with our decision to stay in Cairns, but we might choose a different location for our next trip to FNQ.

Make every effort to go to Reef Teach! It's very entertaining, even if you're not going in the water.

Some great places between Townsville and Cairns...be careful not to rush! The side trip to Wallaman Falls (out of Ingham)is great....Australia's tallest waterfall (>1000 ft). You will wee platypuses in the stream above the falls, and if you are lucky, as we were, you might spot a cassowary there. Between Ingham and Cardwell, is the Casual Cassowary Cafe (at least that was the name in 2002)with a very beautiful lookout over Hinchinbrook Island. Do not miss!! Various other waterfalls...Murray Falls, Josephine Falls and the various rock pools and falls at the Boulders Nat'l Park.

A drive inland to the Atherton Tablelands would be well worth your while as would a night at the Undarra Lava Tubes (great for wildlife!). With just a week, I'd make Dunk a day trip and focus on all there is to see on the mainland.

I like PD better than Cairns.

fly into Cairns, stay in Port Douglas, yes book a dive boat before arriving, nothing else needs booking unless you do a day trip to Cape Trib and then I would highly recommend tour 1 from this website www.queenslandadventure.com ... we have used them twice and it was just the best of all the "local" operators.

Are kids allowed to go to Reef Teach? They are 6 and 8.

Hi
I would definitely stay in Port Douglas. For several reasons: 1. It is closer to the Reef, closer to the Daintree, Smaller and nicer than the city of Cairns, is located right at the famous 4-mile beach.
The better reef cruises are from Port Douglas, you have the choice of smaller boats that visit 2-3 reefs per day (eg. Poseidon Cruises, Haba Dive, Calypso Cruises) or the bigger one (Quicksilver) that visits only 1 site but gives you the option of a glass bottom boat. Great for kids. HOWEVER there can be up to 450 people on the boat. The smaller ones usually only carry around 50 people. Forget the Rum Runner - Backpacker boat.
Dunk Island is nice, however it is on the inner reef which is not as good as the Outer Reef, especially for diving.
Skyrail is nice, doesn't need to be booked. Daintree is very nice and should be booked in advance.
You should try to book on a smaller tour or do a private charter. You will get much more out of your day than with the big tours or busses. Especially if you have children. A great operator is Daintree-Specialised-Tours with Pete Baxendell. Daintree & Cape Trib are done together in one day.
The reef trips can book fast too, usually 1-2 days ahead. You can book now and cancel if not needed (beware of 24hr cancelation policies. I would recommend to book directly with the operators rather than through Agents. Saves you trouble when you have cancel. For tour ideas you can visit
www.wonderfulaustralia.com/linkseng.html
This site provides you with links to the websites of the operators.
Hope this will help. Remember that July is main travel season!